Method of improving throughput performance of an automotive repair shop

Abstract

A method of improving the throughput of an automotive collision repair shop is disclosed comprising the steps of conducting a market analysis of a collision repair shop to determine a potential value of sales by the repair shop; analyzing the relative volume of sales by severity of repair needed for a period of time; analyzing the existing facilities for conducting repairs; and identifying changes in operating procedures and facilities of the repair shop based on the market analysis, relative volume of sales by repair severity and facilities analysis, wherein the identified changes improve the efficiency of the repair shop.

1 . A method of improving the throughput of an automotive collision repair shop comprising: 
 conducting a market analysis of a collision repair shop to determine a potential value of sales by the repair shop;    analyzing the relative volume of sales by severity of repair needed for a period of time;    analyzing the existing facilities for conducting repairs; and    identifying changes in operating procedures and facilities of the repair shop based on the market analysis, relative volume of sales by repair severity and facilities analysis, wherein the identified changes improve the efficiency of the repair shop.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the market analysis includes a map of a geographic region of the collision repair shop depicting market potential in the geographic region.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the relative volume of sales by severity of repair is determined from historical data on repairs conducted by the repair shop.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the relative volume of sales by severity of repair is categorized into segments by quantity of billable hours for repair.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the quantity of billable hours for each segment ranges by 5 hours.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the billable hours is converted to touch hours to determine the number of hours required to complete the repair work.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the number of hours for each of metal repair, frame repair, mechanical repair and painting is determined for each segment.